MANSFIELD, Ohio – A number of local children celebrated the start of summer months at the Mansfield YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day on Saturday.
More than a million children typically attend the nationwide event, held at YMCAs all over the country. Mike Kochheiser, marketing and communications coordinator for the Mansfield YMCA said the local Healthy Kids Day saw more than 100 children in the first hour.
“The main goal is to eliminate that summer drain a lot of school age kids experience, both physically and mentally,” said Kochheiser. “Typically they tend to spend their summers behind screens, whether it’s video games or television; so this is to help them kick it off the right way, get outside and get moving and stay active.”
There was no shortage of active activities at the YMCA on Saturday, including a dunk tank, bouncy houses, tricycle riding and an obstacle course. Kochheiser noted around 15 community agencies were also present with even more children’s activities.
“We asked them each to bring a child-friendly activity, so we have carnival games throughout the community agencies as well,” he said.
A few notable agencies present on Saturday included Catalyst Life Services, Richland County Children Services, Richland Public Health and Community Action for Capable Youth. The agencies hosted games, a selfie station and face painting. One of the more popular activities was at the Mansfield Art Center booth, where children had the opportunity to throw paint-filled balloons at a blank canvas.
Kochheiser said Health Kids Day is all about teaching children and their families how to be healthy and stay active during the summer.
“Studies show that kids gain weight two to three times faster during the summer, so this is our way to create awareness of that and try to eliminate that as much as we can,” he said.
